Agawam softball motivated by Western Mass. final loss last season

AGAWAM - They posed for one final team photo and every member of the Agawam High School softball team did her best to smile.

In reality, no happy face could mask the feeling these girls had to hold inside for their Kodak moment.

Disappointment.

Moments before the camera recorded the image, Agawam was presented with a trophy. It was not quite the trophy they wanted, but they accepted it with grace and class.

It was the trophy for being the Western Massachusetts Division I softball runner-up. No team is really satisfied with second place and the Brownies, who lost to Amherst in the final, are no different.

This spring, the Brownies will use that trophy as motivation. Their goal will be to another piece of hardware to the school's trophy case, but they want a different one this season.They also know it won't be easy.

"They know we are going to have to work hard if we want to win it this year," senior pitcher Danielle Circosta said. "It's not going to be handed to us. It's going to take all of us working together."

Circosta pitched through a painful wrist injury last season and underwent successful surgery. The wrist has healed and she enters this season healthy.

She also enters as one of the region's top pitchers. She fashioned a 6-1 record with an 0.83 ERA.

The Brownies also have another outstanding pitcher in Lauren Brodeur. Not many teams can match that.

We're really excited," Circosta said. "This could be our year, and we want this really bad.

The Brownies took advantage of the unseasonable mild weather to begin their pre-season workouts on the diamond. They couldn't wait to get started.

Who can blame them? Agawam has arguably one of the best batteries in the region with Circosta/Broduer pitching to Rielly Wieners.

Wieners, a once in a generation catcher, has been a starter since her freshman year and has put up some incredible numbers.'

"We're confident because we have a good group of girls and our goal is to get better every single day," Wieners said. "We just fit and have good chemistry. Everybody hustles on and off the field."

"Riellly is excellent behind the plate and offensively," coach Kathy Georgina said. "She's one of the best players in Western Mass. and she's a natural."

Wieners hit .385 with eight double, a triple and home run last spring. As a freshman, she batted .520.

Expectations will be high and the Brownies know it. They are prepared to deal with it.

"They may be high from the outside, but we are going to take it just one game at a time," Georgina said. "We're prepared for anybody. Anything can happen. For us, it is just a matter of doing our best every day. That's our expectation."

Having two quality pitchers is good for confidence.

'"They both have experience and we've been really lucky to always have pitching," Georgina said."

Among the other players to watch are senior outfielder Rebecca Fondakowski and senior shortstop Sam Butt.

"We did lose some key players, but we have others who can definitely step up and do the job," Georgina said.

The Brownies are very good defensively.

"We're going to work hard and have a lot of determination," Georgina said.